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Kansas City, City of Missouri

Kansas City, MO · NTD ID 70271 · 2024 report year

Annual trips1.8 million #221 in the US
Operating expense$8.7 million 2024, as reported
Cost per rider$4.82 all modes combined
Farebox recovery— fares ÷ operating cost

Kansas City, City of Missouri carries 1.8 million passenger trips a year on streetcar service — making it the 221st-busiest transit operator in the United States. It is based in Kansas City, MO.

It spends $8.7 million a year running that service, or $4.82 per trip. Its streetcar service, the largest of its modes, costs $4.82 per rider — 52% below the $9.95 median for the 25 US agencies reporting streetcar.

Over the 8 years reported, ridership remains 17% below its 2019 level, the last full year before the pandemic, and up 4% on 2023.

Service by mode, 2024

ModeAnnual tripsOperating expense Cost per ridervs national median FareboxVehicles
Streetcar#5 of 25 nationally 1,806,946 $8.7 million $4.82 -52% — 4

Ridership, 2017–2024

2.2 million 598,356 2024 2017
YearAnnual trips Operating expense (2024 $)Cost per rider (2024 $)
2024 1,806,946 $8.7 million $4.82
2023 1,734,479 $6.9 million $4.00
2022 1,234,901 $6.6 million $5.35
2021 598,356 $6.5 million $10.86
2020 2,007,019 $7.0 million $3.46
2019 2,187,347 $6.3 million $2.88
2018 2,017,091 $6.2 million $3.05
2017 1,983,085 $5.3 million $2.67

Where Kansas City, City of Missouri ranks

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Source & method. Figures are from the Federal Transit Administration's National Transit Database (NTD) annual reporting for 2024, the most recent published report year. Cost per rider is operating expense divided by unlinked passenger trips. Farebox recovery is fare revenue divided by operating expense. Ten-year trends are adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars; single-year figures are as reported. Agencies self-report to the NTD, and reporting practice varies, so figures are best read as comparable in magnitude rather than to the cent.